On Thu, Sep 18, 2008 at 04:51:45PM -0700, Russ Allbery wrote: > Wouter Verhelst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > > > - I've always considered Debian to be a leading member of the Free > > Software community; as such, I feel it is our duty to tell others when > > we think they are straying off the path of Free Software. > > Personally, I'd rather that we not do this. There are other organizations > that specialize in this (the FSF, for example), whereas Debian specializes > in producing a distribution.
That is a head-in-sand attitude. I'd hope the FSF actually specializes in writing software, rather than making statements. However, writing Free Software is not possible unless there is a healthy community around it; the FSF thus takes a leading role and makes some statements from time to time. I can't see why the same can't be true for Debian. Sure, our specialty is a distribution; but we've done things in the past that go beyond making a distribution, too, and I'd think it would be appropriate in this case as well. > Unless the issue directly affects us, it feels to me like a dilution > of effort and a dilution of focus to make official project statements > about other people's free software practices. I wouldn't have suggested this if it was the first time. The main thing that compelled me to make this proposal is the fact that many people see the Mozilla project as a leading citizen of the Free Software community. And if such a leading citizen does something, it must be good, right? If this kind of thing is not challenged, it might lead to a dilution of values and a subsequent repetition of the problem within the larger community; and that *does* directly affect us. -- <Lo-lan-do> Home is where you have to wash the dishes. -- #debian-devel, Freenode, 2004-09-22 -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
